An atrocious first period that produced a 4-0 deficit proved to be too much to overcome as the Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 5-2 road decision to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. The Flyers dropped to 0-3-1 in their last four games, while the Sabres have won seven in a row.
Nothing went right for the Flyers in the opening 20 minutes. The Sabres imposed their will with tenacious puck pressure and by attacking with speed. The Flyers yielded yet another opposing power play goal. Philadelphia's starting goaltending was subpar. With the puck on their sticks, the Flyers had trouble stringing together two successive passes on the mark.
Jeff Skinner (15th), Tage Thompson (2nd), Evan Rodrigues (power play, 1st) and Johan Larsson (1st) scored during the first period deluge. Sam Reinhart (empty net) added a late third period goal. Carter Hutton earned the win in goal, coming up with key saves over the final 40 minutes among his 23 saves on 25 shots.
Alex Lyon made his first NHL appearance of the 2018-19 season for the Flyers and struggled with his angles and rebounds in his 20 minutes of work. He took the loss with just eight saves on 12 shots. Cal Pickard was scarcely tested in relief with the Flyers doing most of the attacking once down by four, but denied all eight shots on his net.
Claude Giroux (8th) and Wayne Simmonds (9th) scored for the Flyers during the second period. There was no shortage of subsequent Grade A chances to cut the gap back to one goal, but the Flyers were unable to draw any closer.
The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
The Sabres grabbed a quick 2-0 lead within the opening 5:40 of the first period. On the first goal, Lyon allowed a fat rebound and Skinner had an open lane to claim the puck and fire it home. On the second, Thompson beat Radko Gudas to the outside, cut in goal and stashed the puck past Lyon.
The Rodrigues power play goal at 8:55 was scored off the rebound of a shot from up high that Lyon was unable to track and save cleanly. Larsson made it 4-0 in the waning seconds of the opening period on a short side shot from the left circle. Trying to spark his team, Scott Laughton dropped the gloves with Larsson right off the center ice faceoff after the goal that made it 4-0. It was the Flyers' first fight of the season; the deepest into a season the Flyers have gone in franchise history without a fighting major.
In the second period, Giroux sniped a left circle goal off a centering pass from Sean Couturier to get the Flyers on the board at 5:26. At 13:51 Simmonds brought the team back within 4-2 after he potted the rebound of a Travis Sanheim point shot off a faceoff win that was deflected on net by Jordan Weal.
The Flyers made a push in the third period, outshooting and outchancing the Sabres while continuing to chase the game but unable to get back within 4-3. During a late desperation 6-on-5, an extra cross-ice pass attempt by Giroux resulted in missed connections and Eichel coming up with the puck. While he was unable to score thanks to a good effort by Shayne Gostisbehere, Reinhart hit the empty net to ice the win.
The Flyers (9-10-2) return to action Friday, hosting the New York Rangers in a nationally televised Black Friday matinee. The team will then head to Canada to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.